Man Group to Lay Off 270, a 15% Reduction

Hit with $3.2 billion in redemptions in the first quarter, an 11% reduction in assets under management, Man Group said it plans to reduce its headcount by 15%, or approximately 270 positions, to save $60 million a year.

The world’s largest publicly traded hedge fund firm now has $47.7 billion in assets under management.

Nonetheless, the firm is still looking to invest in other hedge fund firms, Reuters reports. “Man has had a had year but is in very strong shape,” Evolution Securities Head of Equity Research Jason Streets wrote in a recent note.

The firm has $2.2 billion in cash and is paying a dividend of 24.8 cents, Streets and other analysts noted. Man projects its fiscal 2008 profit, ending March 31, will be $1.2 billion, down 43% from $2.1 billion a year ago.

Investors ran for the exits when it was revealed that Man’s fund-of-fund RMF had a $360 million exposure to Bernard Madoff, a figure that later turned out to be higher than the actual exposure. Hedge fund investors, especially institutions, are also looking for liquidity.